Distributing-case.



W. G. AXWORTHY.

DISTRIBUTING CASE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-5,1916.

1,218,971. Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

mum;

WILLIAM G. AXWORTHY, OF MON'IOLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

DISTRIBUTING-CASE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

Application filed January 5, 1918. Serial No. 70,383.

. of Montclair, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Distributing-Cases,

of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to cases for the dis tribution of thin, fiat objects carrying identifying data on a face thereof, such, for example, as letters, postal cards, index cards and the like. In this specification the term letter will be used as a convenient general term to designate any such-flat object carrying identifying data on a face thereof.

Apparatus in accordance with my invention may be used for distributing letters for various purposes. In order that the invention may be clearly understood, I have illustrated in connection herewith a device of convenient form for use in a post-office for distributing incoming mail to receptacles from which it may be taken by the carriers who may deliver it on various routes. It is to be understood that such device is merely illustrative of my invention, however, and

that the same may be embodied in various forms and used for a variety of purposes.

One object of the invention is to provide a distributing case with which distribution may be effected with maximum rapidity and with which the movements required of the distributer are simplified and reduced to a minimum.

In distributing letters, they are first faced, that is, a stack is arranged with the faces carrying the identifying matter, as, for example, addresses in the case of letter mail, upward. The distributer holds such a stack of letters in one hand in a substantially horizontal position, and uses the other hand to distribute them. The recognition of r where a letter should go, as the same is uncovered by removing the preceding letter, is accomplished by a practically instantaneous action of the eye, and it is the speed and facility with which the operation of taking 011' the letter from the stack and putting it in its proper place is performed, that controls the speed of the entire operation. To this end it is desirable that a distributing case be provided whereby the letters can be transferred into a receiving compartment from which theywill pass to the proper receptacles, with the smallest amount of movement of the operators hand and arm, and that the simplest sort of movement, and the letters being taken off in a substantially horizontal position, I have found that if they are placed in the receiving compartments 1n the same horizontal position, that is, without turning of the hand up or down, the operation is greatly facilitated and greatly increased speed can be obtained. Where a distributing case is so constructed that 1t is necessary to insert the letters into various recelving compartm nts at a variety of angles varying sometimegfrom the horizontal to the vertical throug all intermediate angles, this change of direction, calling for substantially two movements, namely, a

movement of transmission and a turning movement of the hand and arm, is productive of delay, and this effect of delay is increased where the different receptacles are arranged at a variety of angles varying, as has been the case in some instances, all the way through intermediate angles from the horizontal to the vertical. To place a single letter, with such construction, the sorter must first determine two things, namely, the location of the compartment and the angle of entry, thus taking up much unnecessary time. With the receiving compartments all horizontal, this defective feature is avoided.

Another object of the present invention is to arrange the mouths of the receiving compartments, into which the letters are inserted, Within a comparatively narrow zone within which all the receiving compartments in the various ranks are placed, one directly above another, and all arranged with their mouths in a substantially vertical plane, so that the distributing hand of the operator may pass substantially horizontally from the pile of letters being distributed and held in the other hand, directing without substantial change from the horizontal position into the mouths of any of the various receptacles provided therefor.

Other objects of the invention will appear in connection with the following description, and with the foregoing and related objects in View, my invention consists in the improvements, parts and combinations herein set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and wherein the terials.

same reference numerals are used'uniformly to designate the same parts throughout, Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of one form of distributing casd embodying my invention, the section being taken on the line 1:1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a rear .elevational view thereof, and Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation showing one of the receiving compartments and the preferred form of swinging bar with which each compartment is preferably provided.

A distributing casein accordance wlth my invention may be constructed of various ma- In the form of case selected for illustration, the construction is principally of wood, the chutes being, however, of sheet metal. In this distributing case the letters are inserted into shallow receiving compartments at one side of the case, and are conducted by chutes into the receptacles at the other side of the case where they fall in piles and from which they may be removed. The receiving compartments are designated by reference numeral 10, and these compartments are arranged so that a letter introduced into any one of them is received in substantially the horizontal position in which it is taken from the stack being sorted. This effect is secured, in the form shown, by forming the receiving compartments 10 by means of horizontally arranged slats 11, placed parallel one above another, the space between each pair of slats being divided up by vertical partitions 12. The zone of receiving compartments thus formed is relatively shallow, that is to say, it does not extend for any considerable distance in the up and down direction and is preferably arranged so that the middle thereof is at a convenient height to be reached by a direct horizontal movement of the hands of the operator as standing by the apparatus. This precise arrangement, however, is not especially material. If the operator sits at the work it maybe lower down, and generally the bank of receiving compartments is arranged at a convenient height so that the letters may be introduced therein and throughout the entire height thereof by substantially a simple horizontal movement of the hands. The mouths of all the receiving compartments 10 are arranged in a single,

substantially vertical plane, so that the hori-- metal, designated at 14, 14:. These chutes pass downwardly at such an angle as that a letter introduced t rough the horizontally arranged receivin compartments 10 will pass downward through the chute and pass out therefrom in such position that it will fall flat at the end of its passage, this result being secured by giving the chutes 13, 13 a turn toward the horizontal at their discharge ends, as indicated at 15, 15. To facilitate the passage of the letters from the receiving compartment 10 to the chutes 13, the horizontal slats 11 are preferably chamfered at their inner edges, as indicated at 11.

The chutes 13, 13 discharge into boxes or receptacles 16, 16, which may be all of the samesize, or the size may vary, as will be convenient when there is a disproportionately large number of letters of a particular kind or designation to be distributed. The chutes 13, 13 communicate with the receptacle 16, 16 by passage's17, 17 preferably arranged at the upper ends of the receptacles 16, 16, so that a considerable stack of letters may be collected in the receptacles before it is necessary that they should be removed to make space for others, and the form of closures or retainers for the boxes or receptacles 16 which I find most convenient and satisfactory for use in a case for distributing mail in the post-oflice, consists of hinged bars 18, 18 which may be hinged, as shown at 19, 19 at the top of the receptacles 16, and which areprovided with knobs 20, 20 by which they ma readily be grasped, and which knobs, being preferably fairly heavy, also serve as weights to keep the bars 18, 18

in their proper substantially vertical positions, unless they are intentionally opened for removal of letters from the receptacle. It will be apparent that the letters, in passing through the chutes 13, 13, first strike at their outer edges against the bars 18, 18 as they pass out the months 17 17 of the chutes and at or near the upper hinged ends of said bars, andv will drop directly upon the bottom of the receptacle or upon the pile of. letters beneath them, and since the contact of the letters, as they are received within the receptacle, is at or near the hinged end portions, any turning effect which it may have upon the bars 18, 18 is substantially negligible.

'It is sometimes convenient, as, for exthe space may be needed. These shelves 22 and 23 may also conveniently be used for temporarily receiving quantities of unsorted or undistributed letters which are then taken therefrom from time to time and distributed as has been described. 1 When the device is constructed of wood, as shown, it may be provided with legs 25, 26, though other tially a natural direct horizontal movement,

and the movement of the hand being substantially thersame in the case of all the receptacles, there being no turning through an angle to introduce letters into mouths set at angles away from the horizontal, and the entire bank of receiving compartments being placed within a zone of narrow vertical dimension so that the movement of the hand to the compartment in any rank in such zone is not materially different from its movement to a compartment situated in any other zone, and the. delivery to each rank is in a substantially horizontal direction without up or down turning of the hand. Furthermore, it will be seen that the letters distributed into the receptacles 16 may be readily and conveniently removed, and that after their removal the hinged bars 18, 18 will automatically swing back and serve as stops for further letters, thus assuring their being properly piled in the various receptacles from which they may readily and conveniently be removed.

\Vhile I have described a particular embodiment in which my invention may be utilizcd, it is to be understood that the same is for the purpose of illustration only, and that my invention may be embodied in different forms fromwhat is shown, within the scope of my claims, and without departing from my invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a distributing case, a series of receiving compartments arranged in a zone of narrow vertical dimension and having their mouths in the same vertical plane, a series of receptacles corresponding m number to l the receiving compartments, and a series of chutes leading from the receiving compartments to the receptacles, allthe chutes having shallow horizontal mouths arranged in banks one over another in a narrow vertical zone, substantially as set forth.

2. In a distributing case, a series of receptacles with substantially horizontal bottoms, means for delivering flat ob ects into each receptacle at one side and near the top thereof, and a vertically depending weighted closure'bar hinged to each receptacle at its top on the side opposite the delivery means and extending to substantially 'the bottom thereof and serving to retain the objects received in the receptacle in place and in alinementtherein, substantially as set forth.

3. A distributing case comprising a plurality of receptacles arrangedon its forward side, a corresponding number of shallow, horizontally arranged receiving compartments at the rearward side of the case and having their mouths in a narrow zone and in the same vertical plane, a series of chutes extending downwardly and forwardly from each receiving compartment to a corresponding receptacle, and a shelf arranged behind and below said chutes, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set my hand, this 3rd day of January, 1916.

WILLIAM G. AXWORTHY.

Witness:

HENRY L. Yos'r. 

